The Orlandos

about

The Orlandos were one of the many small groups to come out of Pittsburgh in the 1950s (a circle which included the El Venos, the El Capris, and the 4 Dots). The Orlandos started in 1954, with a bunch of neighborhood friends from the Whittaker Projects in the West Mifflin section of Pittsburgh. At the time, these 14-year-olds all attended Homeville Junior High School. The original members were Gary Jenkins (lead tenor), Joe Murphy (tenor), Roger Randolph (tenor), Charles Raeford (baritone), and John Crowder (bass). This group sang together for only a couple of months, when a major upheaval occurred. By the time the dust had settled, Gary Jenkins, Joe Murphy, and Charles Raeford had left, and John Crowder had moved up from bass to baritone. The new members, still from the same neighborhood, were Ronnie Williams (lead tenor), Nate Thomas (tenor), and Wallace Berry (bass). There doesn't seem to be any particular meaning to the name "Orlandos." "We were just trying to find a name," remembers Ronnie. What did have meaning were the groups that influenced the guys: the Spaniels, the Moonglows, the 5 Keys, the Cadillacs, and, later on, the Coasters. They had arrangements for all the top R&B hits of the day. The Orlandos The Orlandos performed at a lot of record hops, as did most of the groups from Pittsburgh. At one of these, they met Jay Michael (a DJ on WCAE; "Relax With Jay Every Day"). Michael would eventually introduce them to George Goldner, who showed up at one of the recor

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